Nighthawk
by Goodnight Sweet Ladies
Summary: I was a weapon. I was created by Trigon to fulfill a destiny that he had set out for me. I was to bring the end of days to this Earth. I didn't want to, but I had no choice. I had never had a choice, until Raven came. She saved me from our father's clutches. She gave me my freedom, my life and most importantly, my friends.
1. Chapter 1

The smoke was thick in the air, the sounds of destruction all around me. Buildings crumbled, screams filled the air. I could smell blood. I was used to this though. What really staggered me was their pain. Their anger. Their determination. Didn't they know they were already dead? Why bother continue to fight it? I couldn't comprehend what it was that drove them. That is to say, I couldn't understand it, but I was damn sure feeling it. It near overwhelmed me!

Their absolute sense of duty to these people, their drive to protect all around them, to save every life that they could. Their love. Love for these people, for one another, for their families at home. I had never felt such an emotion outside of my visions of _her_. It was…. Unfathomable. It made me weak at the knees.

But I was not allowed to dwell on this, to continue exploring the feelings of these people. These heroes. I was forced to keep moving, as quickly as possible to the secret location where the ritual would be held. Brother Blood would not stand for me delaying this momentous day. I took one last glimpse back at the battle field. All of those brave men and women, they fought so valiantly, so passionately. They didn't do this because they enjoyed it. They did it because to them, there was no alternative. Remarkable. I tried to take it all in before being forced down underground, towards my destiny.

I saw feats of inhuman strength, speeds that surely could never be matched, the flap of mighty wings that heralded a blood curdling battle roar and a god like swing of a mace, lightning came from the skies, beams of sheer power were cast across the battle. It was incredible. I was in awe of these earthlings. Then, I finally noticed my own emotions. Remorse, pity, sadness. These people were incredible, truly marvellous… And I was about to kill every single one of them. My stomach turned and my heart clenched painfully in my chest….. I didn't want this.

I was given no time to ponder this however, as a large fist grabbed me by the hair and threw me into a dark hole. Brother Blood does not tolerate disobedience. I was lead further and further down, towards the sacred spot. I could feel the dark energies of this place ebb and flow. The ancient magical residue washed over me like waves. It too made me sick. I was filled with such foreboding that, given half the chance, I would have run as far as possible from this place, from these people, from this deed.

But this was my destiny. I had no choice. I had never had a choice. I was created to do this thing, as wretched as it was. My thoughts on this meant nothing. Not that they knew I had any thoughts on it to begin with. They knew nothing of my visions of _her_. They knew nothing of all that _she_ had unknowingly taught me. What morality meant. What choice was. What it was to have a life, to be loved, to be happy. But I had none of this. I only knew of it through _her_. And_ she_ knew nothing of me.

No matter how deep Blood and the demons brought me, long after it became impossible to hear the battle raging on above, I could still feel it. I felt the heroes triumph upon defeating an enemy, their pain when wounded by one, and their desolation upon seeing a comrade fall to the earth for a final time, never to rise again.

This is what Trigon brought to worlds. Destruction and death. The apocalypse. I know many of the younger heroes above me did not fully understand this. But there were others that did. They knew what was happening, who was coming to this plane. They knew that this would likely be their final stand. But they fought on. It continued to stagger me.

I arrived in a dark chamber with a ceiling of such staggering height that I could not see all the way to the top in this light. Gothic gargoyles stared at me from the walls of the circular chamber. In the centre stood a tall pillar, encircled by steps up to its top. I knew this was my destination. I slowly made my way up the steps. Nobody could join me on this trek. Brother Blood and the minions had to remain below. They would not survive what was about to happen to me. Despite all his plans, I doubt he would really mind if I did not survive it. I was easily replaced in his eyes.

I began to climb the steps to my fate. My heart pounded in my chest. My hands shook by my side. I was glad for my cloak in that moment. I knew Blood would take great pleasure in such a display of weakness, and, if I survived, I would be severely punished for it. I nearly tumbled from my position on the steps when he spoke. Trigon's voice boomed, not in my ears, but within my mind, and in the minds of everyone nearby, probably in the minds of people all over the world.

"_My precious daughter, you wound me. Do you really feel you should hide from your father? Petulant child. Your hiding will do no good. I do not need you like I did last time. I have a new tool now. And when I come, I shall find you. I shall kill every one of your friends, and every other soul on this wretched world, and you shall watch it all. Then, you shall suffer for your betrayal. This I promise you."_

My mind ached with his presence. It was overpowering. But, I felt something. A distant realisation, coated with horror.

I continued to climb the seemingly endless steps ahead of me. I felt more heroes fall. I could see flashes of the commotion going on above. A man in a red cape desperately tried to hold a crumbling building from falling on civilians below, a man with a red bow was struck, hard. He soared through the air, through the window of a nearby building. A blonde woman with a short blue jacket fought a group alone. She was badly bloodied, a demon horn lodged in her left thigh. A man in a gold helmet was on his knees, cradling the body of a dark woman dressed in yellow and black. Through his tears he did not see the hulking creature approach from behind. I couldn't tear my mind away from the scene. As the creature grabbed the man's head, he felt nothing. No fear, no desire to fight back. Nothing.

One sickening snap later, and the demon stalked away from two crumpled bodies, lying together with tear tracked faces. The man's body still lay over the woman's protectively.

I came back to myself to hear Blood roaring at me to continue. I touched my face, and felt tears streaking down it, similar to the man and woman in my vision. I had never felt something as powerful as the emotions of those above me. They hollowed me.

I reached the top of the tower. I still could not see the ceiling of this chamber. I moved myself to the centre of the ritualistic pattern. I placed my hands on the stone pedestals on either side of me. Instantly they were trapped. I couldn't move them. I was dragged to my knees. My head hung low, covering my eyes, and I let the tears fall.

This was it. This was what I was born to do. Then why did it feel like my ultimate defeat? I had never been defeated before, but I was certain this was what it felt like. My breathing became erratic. I tried to calm it, but I could not. My whole body shook. This was wrong, it was so wrong, but there was nothing that I could do. Trigon had created me for this. I was to be the source of the energy used for this ritual, to bring Trigon into this plane. He and Blood would drain my power to open the portal. It could drain me dry, drain me of my very life, but they didn't care. If I died it wouldn't matter. My father did not need me alive to carry out his plans.

I desperately wished that it would kill me. My blood runs cold now, thinking about what he'll make me do if I survive. What I've been trained to do.

Then I felt it, like a rush of fire inside me. _She_ was here! _She_ was so close. _She _was coming! But I had to remind myself that she was not coming for me. She knew nothing of me, not even that I existed. She would come to try to stop Brother Blood from completing his spell, and she would likely fail. I hoped that I would not have to see her die with the others. I hoped that I would die first.

The ritual began. Blood's voice echoed around the chamber from below me as he chanted the ancient words. Each of my palms opened, and my blood spilled onto the stones that they were held to. Pain ran through my veins like fire, burning me from the inside out, and the blood continued to spill. It travelled down a channel in the pedestals and began to fill the pentagram pattern carved into the floor of the pillar beneath me. I refused to scream. I would not give them that satisfaction. I would bare this terrible burden with as much dignity as I could. As much dignity as there was to be found in bringing the end of days.

As my tears and blood continued to spill, and my body shook with pain, I was certain that the end was here, for me and all those above me.

Suddenly, an explosion from below rocked the pillar I was trapped on. Blood's chanting was stopped, and the ritual ended abruptly. The blood was no longer being siphoned from my body, but continued to trickle from the open wounds in my hands.

There _she_ stood. Raven! Trigon's daughter. I had seen the world through her eyes so many times, but now I was actually looking at her in the flesh, and she was looking right back at me, with those big confused eyes. But she was not alone. The next second a winged woman soared into the room with a deafening roar, bringing a mace up to collide with Brother Blood's jaw with an almighty force. A small green boy charged in, and the next moment, he was one of this worlds massive creatures ( an el-ay-pant, I think?) and stormed right into the midst of the demons Blood had brought with him. They were joined by a muscular man in a red suit with a billowing white cape, who launched into the fray with a strength I had rarely seen before, and lightning too! Then there was a blur. I couldn't see what that one was until it stopped moving for a split second, to glance up at me. It was a boy, with vibrant orange hair in a bright yellow and red suit, and he moved so quickly!

What was most amazing however, was that they were taking on Brother Blood, and were willing to take on Trigon himself. How could they possibly have the will to do that? What did they think they were going to achieve? So many people had died already, and so many more would before the day was done. And it was my fault. I was the one who would bring Trigon here. I was the harbringer of this apocalypse.

But despite everything, Raven took on Brother Blood, while the others fought off my father's demons. It was chaotic. They were clearly not a team that were often together, but they fought magnificently. As the battle raged on below me, the stone pillars released my hands at last, but my body was still shaking and weak from the attempted summoning. I collapsed in a heap, unable to do anything. I have no idea what I would have done in that moment if I could move. Would I have run, gotten as far away as possible? Would I have sat obediently and waited for orders from my masters? Would I have joined the fight on my sister's side? Would I have helped Raven? Killed Blood? It is unlikely. Looking back, I was no freer in that moment than I was with my hands trapped. My mind still belonged to Trigon.

My body was still shaking, my tears were still falling and my blood still trickled from my hands. It would soon heal. It never took long for my body to patch itself up. But I was still in pain and I couldn't stand. I was helpless.

I hadn't noticed that the fighting had stopped until all I could hear was my own ragged breathing. Next thing I knew, there were hands turning me over, but it was different than ever before. I was turned gently, my hood removed and a thumb gently wiped tears from the right side of my face. I opened my eyes to see Raven looking down at me, her friends not far behind her. She was kneeling down next to me. She spoke so quietly, so gently…

"You're the new tool he spoke about, aren't you? Who are you? What is your name?"  
Her voice was soothing. She spoke to me as I had heard her speak to children before in my mind, calm, soothing tones so as not to worry them. To reassure that everything is okay now. But it wasn't.

In the next instant, I was screaming, writhing in pain. Every inch of my body felt like it was on fire! White hot anger was boiling me from the inside out. It was Trigon. He was furious that I had allowed the ritual to be stopped. He attacked my mind ruthlessly. He deemed me a failure and he was going to kill me. Honestly, I didn't mind the death part. The pain was horrendous, but I wouldn't have minded dying in that moment. I had known some kindness in my last moments, and that had made me happier than I had ever been.

I did not die there, however. As the pain intensified, and my screams echoed all the louder, Raven intervened. She entered my mind, and attempted to shield me from Trigon's wrath. In my mind, she stood between my crumpled form and our shared father, acting as a dam to the sea of his fiery rage.

She was trying to save my life. She had only just met me, and she was risking her own life to save me… Nobody had ever cared about me like that before. I couldn't believe it.

But I knew she couldn't hold him back alone. This was Trigon, basically a God. Raven would die by my side and it was all my fault.

"We can win this if we work together! I'm in your mind here, I know you have the power. You are not helpless. You can fight back!"

"I can't fight him, he created me… He's just too powerful!"  
I felt so broken. More broken than any torture had ever left me before. I felt so helpless. But then, Raven showed me something from her past, a time when she had fought off Trigon from this plane. She had defeated him while he was in a weakened state, all alone. My whole world came crashing down around me. All my life I had lived in fear of the demon, believing him to have absolute power. Believing that he could not be beaten, believing that there was nothing that I could do to escape the tortures he put me through, the destiny he had decided for me.

But now? Now Raven showed me the truth, and gave me an alternative. She offered me a chance. She proved that it was not impossible.

She gave me POWER.

It was in that moment of realisation that I gained a life of my own, and power of my own.  
I got to my feet and stood beside Raven on the battlefield within my mind. I rose into the air, and I threw everything I had at Trigon. I wrapped my mind around Raven's, dragging her psychic presence with my own, and forced our way into Trigon's mind. I forced into his thoughts every atrocity he had ever committed against me, every pain he had ever caused me. I made him feel it all. I seared him from the inside out with my thoughts. I took control of the fires of hate that burned red hot within him, and they became blue under the influence of my magic. I scorched him. I attacked him with every thought, every feeling, EVERYTHING.

Together, Raven and I drove him back. I had never felt so powerful in my life. I had killed countless times, been forced to exert myself to within an inch of my life, but I had never felt this kind of freedom, this release, this control before.

We had won. Together, we had defeated him. Suddenly we were back in our physical bodies, back in the real world. But not for long, I passed out almost instantly, only managing a very groggy, sincere "Thank you… Thank you so much" to Raven, before the blackness overtook.

I felt someone picking me up. It was a male. The winged woman was picking Raven up. I could not open my eyes, I was too weak. I had to rely on my telepathy to keep me aware, but it was fuzzy, out of focus and impossible to control. I was totally worn out.

"Raven, what happened? Are you okay? Who the hell is this kid?"

"Wal-…. He's my….. Brother…."  
And with that she slipped into a deep sleep, and I followed her.

My head throbbed. I felt physically ill. My eyes were still closed, but I felt the world around me spinning. I knew if I opened my eyes I would wretch. I felt a hand on my forehead. It was cool, gentle. It was Raven. I was sure. I cast my mind out and found I was correct. Raven was sitting on the bed that I was lying in, and one of the other heroes was coming towards the large room we were in.

"Raven, how're you doing? How'sthekidisheawakeyet?"  
The boy was worried? He couldn't be worried about me, I thought. It must be his worry for Raven that I was feeling.

"I'm okay Wally. My head is still a little sore, and my stomach is a little iffy, but other than that I am perfectly fine. As for the boy, he's awake, just not opening his eyes or speaking yet… Don't be surprised, did you really think you could fool an empath?"  
She laughed gently as she said it. I felt like an idiot, thinking she might not know I was awake. She's an empathy for crying out loud. And a telepath. What was I thinking?

I opened my eyes and looked back at her. I'm told I was blushing from embarrassment. At the time I didn't even know what blushing was! I wouldn't have known the difference anyway if I had been looking in a mirror. I had never seen what I looked like.

She was smiling down at me. I couldn't help but smile back softly. I was in a small, plain room. The only occupants were myself, Raven and this Wally character.

"How are you feeling, little guy?"  
Wally asked me, genuine concern was emanating from him. I was confused.  
"Why do you care so much?"  
I hadn't meant to offend him, but he looked slightly taken aback all the same, before laughing loudly. I started to believe I would never again not be confused.  
"Well… Rae says you're her little bro, somehow, and well, any family of Raven's is family of mine!"  
He winked at me and came to sit on the end of the bed. I once again found myself smiling. I had never known warmth like this.  
"I'm feeling okay… Sore and sick, but nothing I can't handle" I told him honestly.

"What is your name?" Raven asked me softly. I cocked my head to the side in thought, realising something that sounded rather sad now that I thought about it.  
"I don't have one…" I replied quietly. "He never gave me one…"

There was a silence in the room. Wally looked at me with pity, while Raven closed her eyes, took a deep breath and sighed it out again. I knew that she had seen it all. When I used all my pains, all my tortures against Trigon in that battle, Raven was with me. She saw it all. She knew everything that had ever happened to me and she knew how much it hurt.

Just then there was a precise knock on the door before it was opened. The winged woman from before entered. She was much younger than I had thought. She must have been roughly Wally's age, early twenties.

"The League wants to meet with him. They want to hear what happened."

"No. He's not well enough to move." Raven looked at me again, "You can't lie to me either you know. You're far from fine."  
I sighed in defeat. She was right, I felt like shit.

"I'll go meet with them. I know what happened. I can fill them in on everything. Would you stay with him?"  
And with that Raven and Wally were moving towards the door.  
"Sure thing. He doesn't seem like too much of a handful" she flapped her wings gently as she made room for the others to exit, moving towards the bed.  
"Don't worry kiddo, we'll be… back in a flash!"  
This was followed with silence, as Wally looked at me expectantly. I cocked my head to the side (once again) in confusion.  
"You idiot," Raven cut in "He doesn't know your code name, he only knows you as Wally!"  
A blush spread over Wally's face, "Oh… Right, Name's Wally West, or 'Kid Flash' when I'm in the costume!"  
He didn't get time to carry on however, as Raven grabbed him by the hair and pulled him from the room, casting a quick _I'll be back soon, okay?_, to me telepathically.

"So," the woman now sitting on the end of my bed said, "They call me Hawk Girl. Or, when I take off the mask, Shayera Hol. Hear you don't have a name? Sounds like you've had a rough time.."  
I could only nod back, and give a small "I guess" as a reply.

"Seriously, how're you feeling? Honest answer."  
I couldn't lie to her. She meant business. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere anyway with lying. I could already tell she was too smart for that.  
"My head is throbbing, my vision keeps going fuzzy since Wally helped me sit up, my hands won't stop shaking and I feel like I might get sick any minute."  
"Ah…. Sounds shit... But, does it feel good to be free at least?"  
Then it hit me. Was I really free? Trigon was a powerful being… A God like being. And he was vengeful. He would find me eventually. I'd have to talk to Raven about that. She must have some way of keeping him out of her head, a spell or something…  
"Yeah, it feels great."

Shayera took it upon herself to occupy my mind so that I wouldn't be able to pay attention to the pain. She told me she was going to get something for me, and would be right back.

_What is he Raven? We need you to explain it all, or as much as you can. (a woman Raven recognised as Wonder Woman)_

I was seeing flashes of what Raven was doing at the moment. Meeting with the League. She hadn't meant for it to happen either, she was just as surprised as I was, but neither of us stopped it. We decided that I needed to hear what was going on, having quickly concluded that it was just a residual effect of out psychic connection while fighting out father that would fade away soon enough.

_He's my brother. I don't know how he was created, but Trigon created him roughly four years ago. He did not grow up, he was created exactly as he is. I am fairly certain he is half human, half demon like I am myself._

_He was created four years ago and has been a prisoner of our father ever since then. He was forced to endure things that you cannot even imagine. Every day, Trigon put him through horrendous tortures, to make him believe completely that he was an almighty being that could not be defied. It had worked, until I showed him otherwise._

_He is not the same as I am however. He was not made specifically to be sacrificed to bring Trigon to this plane. Trigon didn't mind if he did die, but his actual plan was for the boy to survive. He was to become Trigon's horseman of the apocalypse, in a sense. He was to lead the demon's armies and conquer countless worlds and dimensions for our father. He was to destroy any populations that rebelled or fought back._

Shayera returned carrying a wooden board and many wooden pieces.  
"This is a chess board and chess pieces. I'm going to teach you a game they play on this planet. It'll take your mind off things, and we can get to know one another a little better."

_He was trained relentlessly, being pitted against hundreds of demons, of varying levels of power. Trigon created demons that matched almost all of earth's heroes. He faced off against heroes with the power of Superman, Wonder Woman, Zatana, Captain Marvel, The Flash, all of us. Every one of these fights was a fight to the death. He never lost. He was however, returned to his prison every night beaten, bloodied and broken, and left alone in the dark. His body heals itself at a shocking rate, but he was still left to feel the pain. He was tossed back in with broken limbs, gushing blood, and left to survive it._

Within a short time I had grasped the concept of the game, but could not defeat Shayera. She was obviously extremely skilled at chess.  
"Hey, you keep learning this fast and you'll be wiping the floor with Batman soon enough! And he's damn good. Not as good as me, obviously though. You're a long way off that yet!" she said with mischief in her voice. I was only too happy to rise to the challenge.

We talked as we played. She told me of her past on Thanagar, the invasion of earth, everything. So I gave her the same courtesy. I told her everything about my past.

_His power is like nothing I've ever felt. He's been trained every day to kill every single one of us. He's been trained to be a master of all of his powers, and hand to hand combat, stealth, everything he could ever need to take down the earth for our father. But it's not just his training that makes him so… Incredible. When he realised that he could fight back against Trigon, when he joined me and released his true power… it was staggering. I was in awe. I glimpsed his true potential there, something he doesn't even realise. He isn't like any of us._

Once again I heard the words "check mate" come from the cocky hawk's lips. She was right, I was a long, long way off beating her at this game.

_I doubt Trigon really knows what he's created. I don't know how he's done it, but that boy is nothing like any of us. All of our powers have their limits, no matter how powerful. He doesn't seem to. He seems to have truly unlimited potential. His powers are… God like…_

I was trying to ignore what Raven was saying now. I didn't want that power. I wanted her to be wrong, but I knew that she wasn't. It made me sick.

In the moment my king was, yet again, knocked to the board by Shayera, a gust of wind sent most of the pieces flying from the board, scattering all over the floor.  
"HEYwhatchadoin? WallysentmetoseehowthingsweregoingandtomakesureSha yerahadn'ttriedtosmashyourfaceinyet"

I looked to my right, the source of the noise that I just couldn't keep up with. There, sat IN my bed with me was a boy roughly the same age that I was (physically). He had floppy brown hair that seemed to go everywhere, shining golden eyes and a shockingly bright smile on his face. He seemed to be vibrating with excitement.

"Bart, I'm pretty used to you, and I didn't catch more than four words in there. He's new, you're gonna have to slow down." Shayera sighed at the boy. She was getting up to go fetch the chess pieces from the floor, but I waved at her to sit back down and summoned the pieced back to the board in their starting positions telekinetically, before looking back at the boy who was making himself very comfortable in my bed, even pulling some of the blankets over for himself, and stealing a pillow from me.

"Hehe.. Sorry, guess I got a bit excited. Just that I get to meet you y'know? Everyone else round here's going nuts about you! Can't take two steps without hearing someone talking about the new Raven 2.0!"

It was clear word travelled fast among this world's heroes. The boy continued fussing with the blankets, kicking his shoes off and making himself even more comfortable lying back against the pillows.

"So anyway, I'm Bart Allen, Wally's first cousin once removed! As you can see, also a speedster. So, what about you? Name? Powers? Story? Gimme everything!"

I had no idea where to begin with this boy. I was totally at a loss.

"I gotta go for now, so you two get better acquainted. Wally and I are due on clean up patrol around the city."  
Shayera was leaving me with this ball of energy that still hadn't stopped talking… What was I going to do? I decided I'd better start answering him.

"Umm, well, I don't really have a name…"  
"WHAT?! But… howwillIknowwhattocallyou? You gotta have a name! I'll help you pick one!"  
Bart looked ridiculously pleased with himself at this realisation.  
"What do you think will suit you?"  
I was puzzled. "Umm, how would I know what name would suit me?"

He had clearly become fed up with craning his neck to look at me from his lounging position, as he grabbed me and pulled me from sitting upright, down to where I was lounging beside him.  
"Well, usually people name babies, but everyone says it's best to pick a name that suits how a person looks! So, what name do you think suits how you look?"

I hadn't ever really given it too much thought before, but when I said it aloud it did sound ridiculous,  
"Well… I don't know what I look like… I've never actually seen myself…"  
his mouth fell open. It was quite comical really. The next second his side of the bed was empty, however before I had time to even really notice he was back, with what he babbled on about being a mirror for a minute or two, before holding it up to me.

For the first time ever I saw myself. Really saw myself, not just in a pool of blood which really doesn't give a very accurate reflection. I tried to take it all in, incase I never got an opportunity like this again. I absorbed every detail about myself. I had midnight black hair, with just the slightest blue shine to it. It was long and messy, having never been cut. My eyes were odd by human standards. My iris' were grey, but not a flat, dull grey. I had pale skin, not sickly pale, but almost porcelain.

I couldn't believe it. I finally knew what I looked like. I had to touch my face, to see my hand touch the face I was looking at, to fully believe it.  
"Not a bad sight, eh?" Bart winked at me playfully from beside the mirror.  
"Bart… Thank you. You don't know what this means… Thank you."  
"Oooooh don't thank me yet! I'm not done! We gotta name you yet" His enthusiasm frightened me a little.

Once again he disappeared and reappeared before I could process what was going on, this time with a massive book of baby names. He was really serious about this. He began flicking through them all at impossible speeds. I was shocked he could read at these speeds!

_So what you're saying is, this kid is powerful enough to level this city in a minute? (Batman asked, looking rather suspicious and not at all pleased having a being with that capability in their midst)_

_No, what I'm saying is he could do that with the bat of an eyelid if he realised how powerful he really was. If he wanted to, he could take the sun from the sky and bring it crashing to the earth. He could destroy solar systems and there is nothing we could do to stop him. _

_Surly that kind of power is totally unsafe, for everyone on the planet! (Superman was worried. Very worried.)_

_I agree. And I've come up with a solution. I'm going to ask him to allow me to enter his mind, and lock away some of his power, to keep him at a more manageable level. I can't force him to do anything, mind you, but that kind of power… It will drive him mad if he doesn't accept. No physical body can withstand it if it is not subdued somewhat. _

_All along Trigon has been feeding off of his power, using him for some form of sustenance. The only reason his power is not going out of control right now is that I put a very temporary block in place while he was asleep. We need a more permanent one._

_Are there any other options? (Batman asked, hands clasped together with his ever serious look on his face)_

_If you're suggesting killing him, think no more of that. Even if any of us could kill him, who knows what the sudden release of that amount of magical energy into the universe would do? Him having this much power was an accident. Who knows what would happen if we poured that amount of energy out into the open. He has to stay alive, as a vessel for that power. _

_Then we really don't have a choice. (Batman acknowledged sternly.) _

_The other league members around him nodded. There was no other option._

Bart had by this time called out several names, and dismissed them all himself, claiming that not one of them suited me. Just when I was prepared to tell him to give up, that it didn't matter for now, he snapped his fingers and grabbed me by the shoulders.

"Ben!"  
"Ben?" I asked him.  
"Yup. You're a Ben. And a surname… ahh.. GOTIT! Michaels. Ben Michaels. Suits you perfectly!"

Within an hour of knowing me this boy had given me a face and a name. I had a feeling I would be getting very used to Bart Allen's constant chatter and energy. But right now, I was exhausted.  
"Thank you Bart, for everything" I yawned loudly and stretched, "I think I'm gonna sleep now. I'm so tired…"  
"Yeah, me too!" I was a little surprised when he started snuggling into the bed with me. I had thought he would leave when I said I wanted to sleep, but I was too tired to point that out. I didn't really mind sharing anyway. This was the first time I'd ever slept in a bed, even if it was a bit cramped, it was more comfortable than the rocky floor.  
"No need to thank me, you're more than welcome. Goodnight Ben."

He gave me a very warm hug, and we began to drift off to sleep. I was surprised, I was sensing genuine happiness from him that I was there. He really considered us friends already.

I had friends. That was when my life truly began.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up feeling groggy. My head throbbed painfully and my hands ached a little. I didn't open my eyes for a while, worried that the throbbing would only get worse. I was rather confused however, as my body was lying comfortably, with something very warm at my back. My curiosity got the better of me and I opened my eyes. I looked down and there appeared to be something wrapped around my waist. Were those arms?

I tried to look over my shoulder, only to come into contact with a mop of hair and a boy's face. I let out a quick shout and leapt from the bed, straight into a fighting stance, waiting for him to attack. It appeared that he had been asleep however, as he let out an almighty screech, falling off the other end of the bed and landing on his behind. He clumsily sat up in a tangle of limbs and blankets to look at me over the bed, his big golden eyes full of questions.

It was then that I recalled where I was. I was no longer a prisoner. I was in a small room in the Hall of Justice on Earth. I remembered falling asleep in the small bed with Bart Allen next to me.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He hollered across the room in confusion. I dropped my defensive stance and scratched the back of my neck nervously. "Sorry… I forgot where I was…" came my slightly shy reply. He was having none of it however, "SO YOU THREW ME FROM THE BED?" That was the end of any sort of timid responses from me. "WELL IF I HADN'T WOKEN UP WITH YOUR ARMS AROUND ME I MIGHT NOT HAVE REACTED LIKE THAT" I roared back. "I'M JUST AN AFFECTIONATE SLEEPER!"

The next minute we were both laughing, wheezing for breath. We continued to laugh, until we noticed some objects around the room were beginning to levitate, and float around. I could have kicked myself. I let this new freedom go to my head. I was being careless. I had to regain control. Bart looked worried, he could feel the charge in the air. I could feel his fear. He thought of me as a friend already, but that didn't mean I didn't frighten him.

I took deep breaths, trying to regain my composure. Bart watched in silence as the objects returned to their rightful places. When I opened my eyes he was looking at me sympathetically.  
"So… You have to be as careful as Raven then? Dude, that must be tough… Not crash…"  
I nodded my head and sat back down on the bed next to my new friend. I decided I'd better do something about these powers. I could feel it bubbling under the surface, and I wasn't sure how long I could maintain control over something so incredible.

A quick telepathic conversation later, and raven appeared in the room from a dark cloud. She had with her a large spell book and some candles. I lay on the bed as Raven began setting up her apparatus. Bart sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand. I looked up at him, puzzled.  
"Y'know, for moral support!" came his enthusiastic answer to my unspoken question. I smiled gently back at him and glanced to Raven, nodding to her to begin. I closed my eyes, and travelled inwards.

The plane of my mind looked as it always did, a large pitch black sky looming above me with a scattering of stars and a large, imposing, moon. The ground below my feet was earthy, and pure white. Before me stood Raven, taking her time to look around her, and take in her surroundings. She walked over to one of the many trees scattered about this scene. She touched it's black, crystalline, jagged bark and looked up to its leafless branches. She noticed the crimson liquid that leaked from the branches, and looked at me quizzically.

"Touch the blood if you'd like, just be warned, you'll see something… unpleasant…"  
She reached up and caught one of the droplets of blood, before it fell to the white earth into the puddle of red like those before it. She gasped loudly, and I knew the vision had begun. I knew I'd have to see it with her. They were my memories after all.

_I screamed. I screamed and screamed and screamed again. There was nothing else I could do. My hands were bound and my powers suspended by my father. I was totally trapped. I heard the snap again, and the searing pain across my back. I felt another strip of flesh rip away, and more blood trail down my back, trickling down my legs. The monster behind me drew back his fiery whip once again, as my father watched smirking. The whip came down on my bared back yet again, and I felt the spray of blood flying from my skin and soaking my legs, my hair, my shoulders as a new wound was open. Blood dripped from my hair onto my face. My legs gave way under me._

_This displeased my torturer. His whip came down three more times, spraying more blood into the air. The final time, it curled around my neck to leave a gash along my cheek. As I dangled from my chains, my tormentor came around to face me. He sneered down at me before delivering a harsh backhand strike to my wounded cheek. This seemed to please him, as he continued to strike me in the face, until my nose was broken and gushing blood and I felt my jaw snap out of place. Next, it brought two almighty fists down upon my shoulders, shattering both. I now dangled from my chains, my legs too weak to stand and my arms dislocated. It felt as though they would rip from my torso. My screams meant nothing but pleasure to my father._

_It took up a crude pliers and moved to my hands. I knew what would come next. One by one, my finger nails were ripped from my hands, followed by the teeth from my mouth. He snapped the boned in my forearms. He took up his knife and began carving into my chest ancient, demonic words that in English would mean something close to "From your father, with love". He howled with laughter. _

_Two other creatures came to remove me and drag me back to my cell. Just as they turned, my back to him, he drove the knife deep into my already ravaged back. Another outpouring of blood. Another brutal shock of pain racked through me. I couldn't breathe… I lost all consciousness. _

_The worst part of it all… I woke up._

Raven withdrew her hand from the crimson liquid that dripped from the branch. She looked at me with tears in her eyes.  
"That… That really happened to you?" her voice shook as she asked the question.  
"Yes…" It was more difficult than I thought it would be to look at her after she had seen this event first hand. This was different to when she felt me use my pains against Trigon. There, she was aware of the pain, the suffering and my anger. She was aware that I was tortured. But now? Now she had seen one of the actual events, in gruesome detail. I was sorry that I had let her see that. Nobody should have had to see these things.

"So each one of these trees…? Are they all…?" She let the question trail off, for me to answer or ignore. But she had saved my life. I owed it to her to let her understand what she had saved me from.  
"Yes. Each one is a different memory, of a different torture, a different incident. Some of me being beaten, like you saw there, others of me being forced to fight and kill demons. Often ones with the powers of earths heroes." I pointed to a tree nearby "that one is me killing Superman. The next one, Zatana. The one over there, the Martian Manhunter."  
I looked down in shame. Raven came to rest a hand on my shoulder.

"What about those ones, over there?" she was pointing to a group I had not seen before. They were black and jagged, like all of the others, but these ones did not have the sinister aura of any others, nor did they ooze blood. They were, in fact, not bare like the others either. Each one had a few tiny flowers, like cherry blossom petals made from glittering diamonds. I touched each tree in turn. I saw Raven looking down at me with caring eyes at the site of the ritual, I saw Wally telling me he would be "back in a flash", I saw Shayera once saying the words "checkmate" with a triumphant glint in her eye and I saw Bart, sleeping soundly, cuddled into my back, arms protectively around me as I too slept in the cramped little bed.

Raven stood next to me, and saw the smile on my face and the single tear that escaped from my left eye.  
"Each tree represents one of you. Each one will hold all of the good memories that I have with each one of you. There's one here for you, and Wally, and Shayera, and Bart…"  
She could easily see how happy I was. I finally had some good memories that my mind could store forever, so that I could always visit these good times with my new friends. I knew I didn't have to tell her any of this though, she had seen it all with me. She knew that each glittering little flower was a beautiful memory that I would always have of whatever person each tree resembled.

Once we were done admiring the new memory trees, we turned our attention to the task at hand. We moved towards a large lake, and stood right at the edge, where the gentle ripples of the water lapped at our feet. We cast our eyes out to the centre of the misty lake where stood, on a small island, another tree. This tree however, was unlike any other. This one did not drip blood, nor was it home to tiny crystal flowers. This tree was ablaze, burning with a white hot flame, the heat of which we could feel all the way from the shore. It was causing a steam to rise from the waters of the lake.

I did not need to explain to Raven what the waters represented. She was able to deduce for herself that the water was a symbol of my mental state. When they were calm, I was in control and was myself, calm. When they were rough, choppy or boiling, as they currently were, they were a visual representation of how the Power Tree was affecting my mind. The sheer force emanating from it was maddening. I could feel it as a constant pressure, an endless turmoil in my mind, demonstrated by the waters.

We both knew what must be done. We joined hands and began to will the island to submerge, to force it to sink to the bottom of the vast lake. The tree had to be buried, deep, deep down in the farthest reaches of my mind. It was the only way to dampen the raging fire of my powers. It was the only way to lock it away and subdue it.

The tree resisted this however, burning brighter, higher, hotter and much more violently. My mind ached. The water surrounding the tree began to boil and evaporate at a faster rate. The entire scene became far more volatile. I could feel great pain, and something else… something distant, totally separate from this scene. This distance however, began to rapidly decrease, until whatever I was feeling was right with me, as if a person was standing looking over my shoulder.

I had no time to focus on this however, as the task of sinking the island required all of my focus. It was like trying to remove an organ from my body, with nothing but my bare hands. To take something that all this time had been right at the surface, a constant pressure within your skull and try to force it back, to shrink it down and hide it away, it was a difficult task, but eventually Raven and I succeeded.

The island began to sink beneath the surface of the lake. We watched it go deeper, deeper and deeper. The deeper it went, the more the water cooled the raging fire, eventually dulling it from a violent white threat, to an ominous blue, lapping at the branches, miles below the surface of the water, resting on the floor of the lake. The deed was done. My mind was more peaceful than it had ever been before. I was aware that it was still there, but it no longer seared the forefront of my mind. I finally felt clarity.

Finally, Raven and I returned to our physical bodies, and opened our eyes. The first thing we both noticed was Bart, passed out against the bed still holding my hand, a cold sweat covering his skin. We quickly moved him onto the bed, the movement seemed to rouse him. He opened his eyes and looked up at us, his eyes seemed groggy and out of focus. He came around quickly enough and looked at me.  
"Dude… That was… Kinda crash!"  
Raven and I exchanged a puzzled glance before looking at Bart, hoping that he would elaborate.  
"Look, I dunno how you did it, but I was totally in there! I was totally in there with you guys. I saw everything! The tree, the water, the FIRE! It was incredible! And then, all of a sudden everything was out of control, and you were in pain. And, well… I couldn't feel it, but I was… I was AWARE of it, y'know? I knew you were in pain and I could tell exactly how much but I wasn't in pain myself! Does that kinda thing happen every time you telepaths get together?"

Raven looked worried. She knew what had happened. I had my suspicions myself. It seemed that that presence I felt, that was far away but was swiftly pulled closer, was Bart. When my powers went out of control, trying to fight our burying them in the lake, Bart's consciousness somehow got pulled into my mind with us. It must have been through the physical contact of our hands. There was no other explanation.

Raven confirmed my suspicions, and contributed some of her own. She had read of similar incidents among telepaths when they lost control of their powers. She feared that a connection had been made, and a scan of our minds proved this. Bart and I had become anchored within one anothers minds.

"You two are connected now" Raven explained. "I don't know if it is temporary, or if it is permanent, but I know that the connection is there. Until it wears off, if it wears off, ye will be a constant presence in one anothers minds. It won't be a case of constantly hearing one another's thoughts unwillingly, but I would assume that you will be able to communicate, without having to set up a psychic link beforehand. Ye may even be able to access one anothers knowledge and memories. I'm not sure how deep the connection is. I know of a few books that mention such a connection. I am going to go and get them and read up on this. We need to know all that we can about it, and see if there is any way to break it."

And with that, she vanished in a cloud of darkness.

I looked at Bart, who looked to be deep in thought.  
"Bart… I am so sorry about this. I had no idea that I could do this to a person… I'm so-"  
"There's a lot of trees in there."  
My train of thought was totally derailed. I was confused for a moment, before comprehending what the speedster was talking about.  
"You… You saw them all then?"  
"I can see them right now. I just have to think about you and it's like I'm in there. It's like I know everything about you, y'know?"

I did know. I felt the exact same about him. I knew his entire past. I saw that there were several similarities between us. He too, was not seventeen years old, as his body suggested. I saw that his hyper-accelerated metabolism was causing him to age at an extreme rate. I saw that he too did not develop in the real world, but in a virtual reality. I saw him travel back in time to the present day, and I saw Wally save his life when nobody else could. I knew him completely.

I realised that the connection was far deeper than even Raven thought, and I knew that he had come to the same conclusion.

"Don't apologise"

I blinked. "What?" I asked him  
He looked me in the eye, "I said, don't apologise. Truth be told, I kind of like this. I like feeling this close to someone who kinda gets what it's like, never growing up, y'know?"

And I did know. And I liked it too. I already felt more comfortable in this world, more at home, knowing that I was not alone. He could understand me, and that made me feel a little bit better about myself.


End file.
